Samsung Galaxy S3 Ultimate Accessory Pack [Review]

David Lumm is a professional programmer and a technology enthusiast with a passion for making technology simple.

Having the latest technology in your pocket can be great most of the time, but it can also be pretty scary. How do you keep this tiny, fragile, expensive piece of kit safe? Not only do you need to keep this little thing that contains and controls your whole life safe, you also need to keep it charged or you may feel your life will fall apart.

With that in mind I was very excited to have the opportunity to test the brilliant Ultimate Accessory Pack for Samsung Galaxy S3 from GearZap. Here was a chance to protect my precious device and make it even more useful, if that is even possible.

When the accessory pack first arrived I had to look twice, I thought that maybe I had been sent two. I was also a little surprised to find the pack was just a collection of items in a bag, rather than being packed into a box. I’m not sure whether it was just packed this way for me or whether this is how the pack is always delivered, but whether in a box or a bag, it would soon be unpacked.

Here’s what you get in the pack: a FlexiShield case, 5x MFX screen protectors, a car holder, a car charger and two types of stand.

The pack arrived just in time for a weekend away, so first out of the bag were the car holder and the car charger. The holder took me a few attempts to get right, but this was mostly down to the inside of the windscreen not being very clean! It’s stayed on a week and shows no sign of falling off. The best thing is that it’s a universal mount, so even if I do end up dropping the phone down the toilet (or something stupid like that) the mount will not become useless! The car charger, being a micro-usb, is also universal.

Having arrived at my destination the case was the next thing on. The details online describe the case as “hard like a crystal case, but [with] the flexibility of a gel case”. For me I found the case a little too firm and not flexible enough. There are only 3 buttons on the side of the S3, the power/sleep switch and the volume buttons, but pressing these can be difficult at times with the stiffness of the case. At times it seemed like there was no feedback, so you’d either think you were pressing it but not pressing hard enough, or end up pressing too hard. That being said, the case does seem to be softening with time and is also softer when it’s warm. I would also definitely trust the case to protect the phone, which is more than can be said of some flimsy cases.

The stands are brilliant! I had seen those little sucker stands before and could instantly see how useful they could be. It’s a great one to keep in your bag to use when you need it, especially if you spend a lot of time travelling! You push the sucker onto the back of the phone (this works even with the case on) and rest the phone on the ball of the stand, perfect hands-free viewing!

The desktop stand is also really good, although I must admit to being a little confused with it at first. The base and the top were separate in my goodybag and it took me a process of elimination to work out that they were meant to go with each other, and then a minute or two to realise how they actually fit together. The base is a stylish and weighty brushed metal, the top features a slightly sticky silicon type material to which the phone adheres. Rather usefully it has a portrait and landscape mode too, so it will hold your phone whichever way you want. Despite the size of the S3 the stand has held it fast for hours and I’ve had no fears of it suddenly dropping off!

So that leaves us with the screen protectors; Like Chris I’ve never been much of a fan of screen protectors, but as I was reviewing the whole pack I dove straight in. There’s a cloth to prepare your screen, some pretty clear instructions, a little card to help with removing bubbles and five protectors. My first attempt at applying a screen protector didn’t go perfectly but that was down to my inexperience, I think. The surface can be a little sticky and my stylus doesn’t slide across it very well because of that, but I rarely use the stylus and I appreciate the protection offered – having already placed two or three small scratches on the screen.

The pack is great value and covers a lot of use-cases: in the office, the car, home and travelling. The case is probably a matter of taste, but even if you go on to not use it the rest of the pack will be worthwhile.

So, in conclusion, would I buy the pack? Yes I would. Can I recommend the pack? Absolutely!